KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Kirksville wrestling team is coming off another great regular season as they move toward the District Tournament that starts today and goes through Saturday at St. Charles West High School.

The Tigers are looking to duplicate past postseasons’ success.

“I would put our schedule up against anyone in the district. If these guys can weather that storm week in and week out, this weekend should be pretty par for the course. However, there is a little more pressure on the line because you either do or you don’t. This could be the end of your season. I have told these guys we have prepared, you are ready and more prepared than your opponent,” said Kirksville head coach Kevin Powell.

Kirksville has wrestled their traditional tough schedule as they have taken in part in tournaments across the state as well as in Iowa and Illinois.

Powell has been focused on wrestlers improving throughout the season as they move toward districts and ultimately the state tournament.

“These guys need to give their competition a reason to quit. Since we are competing for a team trophy at the district tournament, plus that a lot these guys should qualify for state kind of spurs these guys on. We have a 14-against-one kind of mentality all year,” said Powell.

Wrestling at 106 for KHS is Kaleb Cox. Cox finished the regular season with a 7-12 record and is coming off a knee injury. State ranked wrestlers that Cox might have to face include No. 4 Drew Ditter of St. Charles West, No. 5 Josh McClure of Fulton, and No. 19 Lawrence Woods of McCluer South-Berkley.

“He has got some experience now and I think he has the ‘want to.’ I’m happy on where his knee is at, so I think Kaleb is right there. With three ranked guys in his bracket that leaves the fourth sport wide open, and I don’t see any reason why he can’t take that spot,” said Powell.

At 113 pounds and ranked No. 3 in the state is Ethan Rentschler. Rentschler finished the regular season with an impressive 38-6 mark. Other ranked wrestlers at 113 pounds include, Darian Young of McCluer South-Berkley at No. 12 Chad Hachtel of St. Charles West at No. 15 Jadin Taylor of Mexico at No. 16 and Zane Norton of John Burroughs at No. 17.

“Ethan should be a favorite in his bracket and should be bonus points [tech falls and pins] in the tournament and in a close team race those bonus points can be big,” said Powell.

Will Krause finished the season at 12-26 at 120 pounds. In the 120-pound division are No. 4 Hunter Smith of Mexico, No. 5 Brendan Hachtel of St. Charles West, No. 6 Reid Hanmore of St. Charles, No. 13 John Broughton of MICDS, and Derian Inlow-Smith at No. 17 from Moberly.

Page 2 of 4 - “Will is working on some good stuff and is becoming a dangerous wrestler. Will has had a tough season and his record isn’t real good but he is one of those guys who can score for us though,” said Powell.

At 126 is Branden Beeler who finished 28-15. He is ranked No. 7, in the state and will face fellow state ranked wrestler Jordan Jones of Mexico who is No. 5.

“Branden should also get us some bonus points on his way to a qualifying spot,” said Powell.

Beeler has had somewhat of a roller coaster season.

“I looking forward to seeing how everyone is going to do since we have been working hard toward a state championship this season. I want to come and start strong and finish strong, I am looking to win the tournament this year,” said Beeler.

Coming in at 132 is Evan Aljundi, who ended his season at 19-28. Aljundi faces a tough draw with four state ranked wrestlers in his bracket, including No. 1 and defending state champion Cody Pae of Fulton, No. 2 John Williams of McCluer South-Berkely, No. 13 Angel Mendez of St. Charles West, and No. 17 Scott Speaks of Mexico.

“Evan is a lot like Will, he has the potential to qualify and he should certainly get some points for us in the tournament,” said Powell.

Mitch Kriegshauser is at 138 pounds and comes in ranked No. 5 as he finished with a record of 33-16. Also ranked at 138 is No. 6 Nick Scherer of MICDS, No. 8 Trenton Clines of Fulton, and No. 12 Jayde Moran of Mexico.

Kriegshauser is a senior who knows that any match could be his last.

“This is when everything starts to count and you better be on top of your game. Being a senior presents a lot of pressure but coach has prepared us well so that we can continue on past the district tournament,” said Kriegshauser

“He is going to have to have a good tournament because he might have one of the tougher draws in the tournament. But he should be seeded pretty high because he had a good season, and as a senior I feel like should be able to qualify,” said Powell.

Moving up to 145 pounds is Matt Kelly. He finished the season with an 11-12 mark. Also at 145 is No. 1 Jake Vitale of Mexico, No. 14 Steve Biondo of St. Charles West, and No. 16 Trey Hudson of Fulton.

“He is a state qualifier from last year and has bumped up a couple weight classes with some tough wrestle-offs and should be pretty good,” said Powell.

At 152 is Tre Stewart who finished with a 29-18 season and comes in No. 10. He will face No. 7 Brennen Dixson of Moberly and No. 14 Sam Fayad of Mexico.

Page 3 of 4 - “Hopefully he is where he needs to be, because he has had some ups and downs this season, but is wrestling as a smarter wrestler,” said Powell.

At 160 is Dorian Sneddon. Sneddon finished 12-25. He will face a very top-heavy bracket with No. 1 Casey Bartee of St. Charles West, No. 3 Drew Benner of Fulton, No. 5 Blake Joiner of Moberly, and No. 6 Ryan Johnson of St. Charles.

“He has had hard a year as he has been filling a spot for us, a lot of self sacrifice from that guy this season. He is going to have to wrestle tough and do the best he can,” said Powell.

Also coming off an injury is Kylan Easley, who finished at 25-6 and No. 9 in the state.

“He wrestled good at Quincy and we are hoping he can wrestle hard,” said Powell.

“We are looking forward to getting all 14 wrestlers qualified for state. We want to keep our scores high and come with a gold from districts. They said I wouldn’t be able to wrestle for quite a long time, but I finally started to progress and it’s painful, but I can work through it and go to districts and win some gold for the team,” said Easley.

Makenna Cook is coming off an outstanding season that saw him finish the year ranked No. 1 and with a 43-1 record.

However, he will face a difficult challenge in the 182-pound bracket, with No. 4 Payton Turner of Mexico, No. 8 Ryan Meyer of St. Charles West, No. 9 Christian Bledsoe of John Burroughs, No. 10 Trae Ford of Moberly, and No. 11 Louis Grace of MICDS.

“I think Cook is going to have a good tournament,” said Powell.

No. 11 at 195 is Kade Proctor, who finished 34-9. Three other ranked wrestlers will be in Proctors’ bracket, No. 9 Paul Brooks of Fulton, No. 16 Adrian Minor of Mexico, and No. 18 Andelson Perez of St. Charles West.

“He is a little beat up, but if he wrestles smart and to his potential he should do fine,” said Powell.

Logan Summers finished 38-9 at 220 pounds and ranked No. 3. Summers is the highest ranked wrestler in his bracket, but No. 9 Taylor Boyce of Priory, No. 10 John Kingsley of Fulton and No. 12 Alex Breck of St. Charles West join him as ranked wrestlers.

“He has had a great year and had pinned a lot of guys and should be in real good shape,” said Powell.

Closing out the Kirksville line-up is Austin Dovin at 285. Dovin finished ranked No. 9 and with a record of 32-15. Also ranked in his bracket are No. 5 Jeff Kinder of Moberly, No. 6 Damien Bell of McCluer South-Berkley, No. 12 Clayton Bristol of Fulton, No. 13 Wyatt Gale of Priory, and No. 15 Solo Ceesay of John Burroughs.

Page 4 of 4 - “He is going to have to wrestler smart and tough and if he does that he should have a pretty good chance of going to state,” said Powell.

Powell feels there is one thing his team has to do to be successful.

“I think every guy is going to have to have a lot of heart and zero excuses. We are a little beat up, which makes it easy to find an excuse. They just have to get all of that out of their heads,” said Powell.